UMass FMCH Tuesday Talk - October 13, 2026/EDUCATION | | |
Table of Contents
Upcoming Events
Focus of the Week - Education
Announcements
Presentations and Publications
Department Member Recogntion
Frankly Speaking Podcast
Resources
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Focus of the Week - Education
Jeanne Cawse-Lucas, MD, Executive Vice Chair
We are fortunate to have 3 residency programs in our department: Preventive Medicine, Fitchburg Family Medicine and Worcester Family Medicine. For today's Tuesday Talk, we're shining the spotlight on Worcester Family Medicine Residency.
The Worcester Family Medicine Residency (WFMR) was founded by UMass Med School in 1974 as Massachusetts' first family medicine residency. Currently, WFMR is a 3-year training program that has 39 residents (13 residents in each post-graduate year). WFMR residents have their own panel of patients at one of three continuity sites: Barre Family Health Center, Family Health Center of Worcester or Hahnemann Family Health Center. Residents are the primary care physician for patients of all ages who come from diverse backgrounds and provide full-spectrum care for them including office-based procedures. In addition to their continuity health center experience, residents rotate through inpatient and outpatient family medicine and multi-disciplinary experiences at various sites including Memorial and University campuses.
WFMR has a well-established reputation for providing strong, broad-spectrum training. Graduates practice in all kinds of settings, from rural to urban, serve diverse communities, and practice the full scope of family medicine.
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Residents provide inpatient care to the diverse and complex adult patients that our community's family medicine practices care for. Many of our FM hospitalists and community rounders are WFMR graduates (and did not need hospital medicine fellowships)!
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We have a rigorous perinatal curriculum, where all residents gain significant experience in low-risk deliveries and any resident who is interested in including deliveries in their post-residency practice are able to reach competency. Residents also assist on surgical cases, including c-sections, tubals and D&Cs, with our group of 4 FM-OB fellowship-trained faculty (Claudia Pierre, Anna Zheng, Katie Price and Lyndsey Stadtmueller).
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WFMR also has a robust, 3-year-old point-of-care-ultrasound (POCUS) curriculum that is ahead of the curve on implementing the American Board of Family Medicine POCUS core outcomes. We have our own ultrasounds at each health center site and on the inpatient service (labor and delivery provides cart models), providing ready access for residents to scan patients whenever possible to build their expertise. Our POCUS faculty (Erin Cathcart, Becca Gwaltney and Henry Del Rosario) are establishing a name for DFMCH through their work across specialties within UMass, as well as nationally with STFM, PRIME and GUSI.
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WFMR has ACGME Osteopathic Recognition, so we are able to further develop our DO residents' osteopathic knowledge and skills. Residents who complete the Osteopathic Recognition curriculum are eligible to sit for the American Osteopathic Board of Family Physicians certification exam.
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All of our residents complete white belt LEAN training and get involved in quality improvement projects that seek to improve the patient experience and provider workflows at our health centers and inpatient services. Residents present their quality improvement projects every June during Grand Rounds at Memorial and we invite you all to join!
If you are interested in learning more about WFMR, there are several ways to connect:
Visit our website: WFMR
Follow us on Instagram: @umassworcesterfamilymedicine
Receive our WFMR newsletter and/or our POCUS newsletter (email Mike Smith to join!)
| | WFMR Faculty and Residents traveled to Atlantic City for the Annual FMEC conference in September to present the program's POCUS work! See the photos below! | | Erin Cathcart, MD, and Rebecca Gwaltney, MD, "Creating a Faculty Privileging Pathway for POCUS" | | Henry DelRosario, MD, and Andrea Chin, MD, "From Probe to Action: Three POCUS cases that changed clinical trajectories" | | Erin Cathcart, MD, Rebecca Gwaltney, MD, and Ginny VanDuyne, "Fill the gaps–using a dedicated reserves rotation to support critical services AND enhance POCUS training in family medicine residency" | | Alicia Ding, MD, PGY-3, Ian Roy, MD, PGY-2, Anusmriti Guragain, MD, PGY-3, Henry DelRosario, MD, "Learning POCUS Together: Practice, Feedback, and a Plan for Growth" | |
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Announcements
As Election Day on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2026, approaches, we encourage everyone to take a few minutes to prepare for voting. You can find your polling location at https://www.sec.state.ma.us/WhereDoIVoteMA/WhereDoIVote and learn more about the nine statewide ballot questions in the official Massachusetts
voter guide: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/divisions/elections/research-and-statistics/2026-information-for-voters/guide.htm.
The Annual Judy Savageau Coat Drive - October 1st-November 1st
You might have noticed it's getting cold outside. Time to help our local elementary schools - with monetary donations or NEW coats. You can Venmo @hugh-silk (conf code 7909) or checks to Linda Cragin - 6 Alcott Dr., Northborough, MA 01532. We also accept new coats at Benedict or the Department Awards Event on October 27th. Let's top last years $2000 and >100 coats! Questions - hugh.silk@umassmemorial.org. Thanks for contributing!
The 2026-27 Call for Proposals is open for the Daniel H. Lasser Education Innovation Fund, in honor of our prior department chair to continue to advance our department's education mission. We are accepting proposals for up to $2000 on a rolling basis for projects that support resident, fellow, and/or faculty career development and promotion. Please see here for the funding focus and requirements and submission details.
Unlock your teaching potential at the TOT Workshop - 2 Days of Training
October 23rd and April 2nd, 8:00-4:00pm, New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill, 11 French Drive, Boylston, MA. See flyer, contact susan.foley@umassmed.edu, or visit the website Teaching of Tomorrow for more information.
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Presentations and Publications
"Expanding the HIV Workforce Through Residency HIV Pathways", written by Philip Day, Vanessa Carson-Sasso, Scott Hebert, Hathy Simson and Philip Bolduc, has been published online in Journal of General Internal Medicine. https://rdcu.be/cckwyJaqL2Ua
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Department Member Recognition
Jeff Baxter and Jennifer Bradford were quoted in the Worcester T&G (October 6th) regarding the temporary state ban on kratom.
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Frankly Speaking Podcast
In this episode, we discuss how the renaming of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) to polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS) reflects the true complexity of this diagnosis-a condition that extends beyond ovarian cysts and reproductive health. Listen in as we explore what drove the name change, how it better reflects the condition's complexity, and what current evidence says about prevalence, risk, and whole-body management strategies for your patients. Guest: Mariyan L. Montaque, DNP, FNP-BC, presents, "PMOS-Expanding Diagnosis and Care Beyond Cysts and Cycles" Frankly Speaking Episode #505. Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/frankly-speaking-about-family-medicine/id1194659367
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Please help us continue gathering information about instances of racism, bias, and microaggressions experienced by our learners, faculty, and staff. We encourage everyone to use our support tool, which takes approximately five minutes to complete. The information collected helps us identify appropriate and meaningful intervention options. Please access the form using the QR code or by using the Ombuds Support Form link: https://umassmed.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_a3LP0h8mpHYDnqS
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